Mentoring Program for Women in Mathematics

女性数学辅导计划

• 批准号: 9802179
• 负责人: Robert MacPherson
• 金额: $ 10.74万
• 依托单位: Institute For Advanced Study
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1998
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1998-03-01 至 2001-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9802179&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Mentoring; Program; Women; Mathematics

For many years now, the percentage of PhDs in mathematics granted to women in the United States has been at least 20% of the total. There are many colleges and universities in which half the mathematics majors are women. However, there is an observed lack of women at the most visible, highest levels of research, teaching and management. This is often explained as a time-lag, with the assumption that the numbers of women university professors and mathematical leaders will come in the future to reflect the demographics of the student populations. There are positive signs, as many mathematics departments now have one or two female professors, there have been women presidents of all the major professional organizations, and several of the most renowned industrial research groups are headed by women. At least three of the twenty prestigious Sloan postdoctoral research fellowships each year go to women, and the statistics of the National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowships are even better. There are, however, some signs that the situation overall is not as healthy as it might be. The numbers of women at research institutes like the Institute for Advanced Study and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute are not up to the 20% figure, probably partly as the most prestigious schools do not uniformly have many women enrolled (we find that there are only three women in graduate school in mathematics at Princeton University right now.) In particular, the IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute Summer Session has had difficulty attracting representative numbers of women. The Mentoring Program for Women in Mathematics is a ten-day workshop designed to prepare students for the summer session of the PCMI. The workshop includes lectures, seminars, problem sessions and exposure to a variety of scientists. It is set up to encourage both peer group mentoring and networking, as well as interaction between four or five levels of participants. The short-term goal i s to gather young women mathematicians together in a challenging and supportive environment. This incidentally provides a basis for an active women's network as well as an introduction to the scholars in residence at the Institute for Advanced Study of a spirited, serious and enthusiastic group of young women. The long-term goal is to help increase the number of women professional mathematicians in this country by providing information, senior role models and an excellent research environment for young female mathematics students. In the years 1994, 1995, and 1996, the short-term goal of the proposal has been realized very successfully. The written comments of participants in the program are overwhelmingly positive and speak of concrete advantages provided to the participants: intellectual advances, contacts with women mathematicians, increased self-confidence and, in some cases, the decision to pursue a professional career in mathematics. It is too soon to judge if the long-term goal of the program will be realized, but we are encouraged by the number of participants who have made a return visit to the program at a later stage of their careers. Chuu-Lian Terng, Northeastern University Karen Uhlenbeck, University of Texas at Austin Program Organizers

多年来，美国授予女性数学博士学位的比例至少占总数的20%。 在许多学院和大学中，一半的数学专业是女性。 然而，在最明显、最高级别的研究、教学和管理领域，女性明显缺乏。 这通常被解释为一种时间滞后，假设未来女大学教授和数学领袖的数量将反映学生人口的人口统计数据。 积极的迹象是，许多数学系现在都有一到两名女教授，所有主要专业组织都出现了女性主席，几个最著名的工业研究小组也由女性领导。 每年二十个著名的斯隆博士后研究奖学金中至少有三个授予女性，国家科学基金会博士后奖学金的统计数据甚至更好。 然而，有一些迹象表明，总体情况并不像想象的那么健康。 高等研究院、数学科学研究所等研究机构的女性人数没有达到20%，部分原因可能是最有名的学校招收的女性人数并不多（我们发现普林斯顿大学数学研究生院目前只有三名女性）。特别是IAS/帕克城数学研究所暑期班很难吸引有代表性的女性。 数学界女性辅导计划是一个为期十天的研讨会，旨在帮助学生为 PCMI 的夏季课程做好准备。 研讨会包括讲座、研讨会、问题会议以及与各种科学家的接触。 它的设立是为了鼓励同侪小组指导和建立联系，以及四到五个级别的参与者之间的互动。 短期目标是将年轻女性数学家聚集在一个充满挑战和支持的环境中。 顺便说一句，这为活跃的妇女网络奠定了基础，并为高等研究院的常驻学者介绍了一群充满活力、认真而热情的年轻女性。 长期目标是通过为年轻女数学学生提供信息、高级榜样和优良的研究环境，帮助增加该国女性专业数学家的数量。 1994年、1995年、1996年，该提案的短期目标都非常成功地实现了。 该计划参与者的书面评论绝大多数是积极的，并谈到了为参与者提供的具体优势：智力进步、与女数学家的接触、自信的增强，以及在某些情况下追求数学职业生涯的决定。 现在判断该计划的长期目标是否能够实现还为时过早，但我们对在职业生涯后期回访该计划的参与者人数感到鼓舞。 Chuu-Lian Terng，东北大学 Karen Uhlenbeck，德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校 项目组织者